Sparks

Glow-in-the-dark

Emily->

"I am not wearing this." It was the next night and Sam's sister Emily had come over with her clothes and makeup to attempt to make me look eighteen. After curling my hair and covering my face with eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick, she had instructed me to put on a short purple leather dress. And when I say short I mean so short that if I bent over everyone around would see my underwear. Along with the dress came a pair of heels so high they were more like stilts.

"This outfit will definiely make you look eighteen", says Emily.

"Don't you have something a bit, longer?" I ask. "And maybe some shoes that I won't turn an ankle in?" Emily sighs and look through her bag. She pulls out a strapless black dress and a pair of leapard print heels and throws them at me. I catch them and go into my closet to change.

Whe I come out Emily's jaw drops.

"You look amazing", she says, "and totally eighteen." I walk in front of my full length mirror and almost gasp.

"Wow", I say. Even though Emily is nineteen the dress fits me perfectly. It stops mid-thigh and has a small bow on the waist. The heels look great too, although they are still pretty uncomfortable.

"Ember are you ready to go", says Ethan from the hallway.

"Yeah", I answer.I turn back to Emily.

"Thank you so much", I say.

"No problem", says Emily, "you could introduce me to your cute brother as a thank you though." I laugh and we walk into the hallway. When Ethan sees me he does a double take.

"Ember, you look, older", says Ethan.

"That was the idea", I respond, "Ethan, this is Sam's older sister, Emily."

"It's nice to meet you Emily", says Ethan. I leave them flirting and go downstairs. A couple minutes later Emily leaves and Ethan and I get in the car and head for the club.

When we get there we are ushered backstage amid,  where Sam and Kyle are already waiting. The club is pretty amazing, glow-in-the-dark paint covers the walls in abstract designs, and everyone in the growing crowd are equiped with glowsticks. 

"Woah, Ember", says Sam, "you look amazing." I blush.

"You have your sister to thank on that one", I say.

"I think it's mainly you", says Kyle. I blush again.

"Looks like we're up", says Ethan gesturing to the stage, where a heavy metal band is finishing up. We go on to the stage and set up. I make the introductions and then we start, the crowd cheering and dancing along. In the beggining I feel awkward in my heavy makeup and Emily's clothes, but after a while I get used to it and really start to enjoy myself.

Towards the middle of the show I notice quite a few people are filming our performance. Some of them even know the words to our songs, which means they must have been at Musiktown when we played. The attention feels strange, but I know that if we actually make it big, it's going to be like this times a thousand.

Later that night, after the show, we drive to Mark's house for the party. We get out of the car and I suddenly feel self-concious in my tight dress and heels.

"We can just go home if you want", says Ethan, picking up on my uncertainty.

"It's fine", I say. We see Sam and Kyle pull up in their cars and all of us group together to walk inside. When we get inside the party is in full swing. Beer and vodka bottles are everywhere, even though most of the partiers are underage. Music blares from giant speakers, some kind of dance music remix. And crowds of dancing guys and girls, all older then me, are everywhere. Sam and Kyle go off to find something to drink, and I see Ethan looking at the dancing crowd.

"Go", I say, gently pushing him in that direction, "I'll be fine." He takes one last look at me to make sure I'm cool with it before heading off to find his friends. I sit down on the couch and watch the partiers. They might be having fun now but in the morning they are not going to feel very fun at all.

"Hey Ember." I look up to see Mark standing over me with a bottle of beer in one hand.

"Hey Mark", I answer. He sits down at the couch beside me.

"Want some", he says, gesturing to his drink.

"No thanks", I respond.

"Come on Ember", says Mark, inching closer to me. I can smell the beer on his breath and I know that he is drunk.

"I said no", I repeat. Mark leans closer to me. I inch away.

"I never stopped liking you Ember", slurs Mark. He grabs my face in his hands and tries to kiss me. I move my face away and try to stand up. He grabs my arm.

"Leave me alone!" I say. He pulls me back on to the couch.

"She wants you to leave her alone." I look up to see Sam, who has suddenly appeared.

"I think I know what she wants", says Mark, pulling me closer. Sam pulls Mark up from the couch by the front of his shirt.

"Leave her alone", says Sam. Mark gulps and nods. Sam lets go of him and he stumbles away.

"Thanks", I say, standing up from the couch.

"You should go home", says Sam.

"I don't want to bother Ethan", I answer, looking over at the dance floor where my brother is talking to a crowd of girls.

"I can drive you", suggests Sam.

"That sounds good", I respond. I text my brother so that he doesn't get worried about me, and we head to Sam's car. After ten minutes we arrive at my house, the quietness of my street a stark contrast to the loudness of the party we were just at. The light is on in my parents bedroom, but other then that the house is dark. It is pretty late, so that isn't a surprise, although it does mean that I will have to fumble around in the dark to get to my room.

Sam stops the car, and we sit there for a little while. 

"Thanks for driving me home", I say, starting to get out of the car. Sam grabs my arm.

"Wait", he says. He moves closer and leans in. I close my eyes and lean in too. Our lips touch and then we are kissing, his hand resting on my waist. Wait, didn't I just go on a date with Kyle? I pull away.

"You can't just kiss me!" I exclaim.

"What?" Sputters Sam, obviously confused. 

"You have to ask me out first", I say, "you don't just, kiss me!" I open the door and get out.

"Wait, Ember", he says.

"I'm sorry", I say, "I just can't." I run into my house and shut the door. What have I done?